Welded frame for combustion engines



June 23, 1936. RADLOFF v 2,045,493

I WELDED FRAME FOR COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Nov. 27, 1933 lnve\^\to1-:

JQhannc-es Radio??` 1 wgy- Patented June 23, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENToFElcE wELnED FRAME Foa coMUs'rloN ENGINES Johannes Radlo, -Berlin.,Germany, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of l NewYork Application November 27, 1933, Serial No. 699,983

In Germany December 14, 1932 for welded frames of combustion engineswhere-v by these frames may be made of standard structural shapes atconsiderably less cost than cast frames. In accordance 'with myinvention I make a frame for combustion engines `which comprises twoseparate'parts, a base or crank k'case having a. lower portion formingan oil chamber and ncluding means for supporting a crank shaft, and acylinder frame or support whichl is fastened to the base portion by'means of anchor rods or studs. The arrangement according to my inven`tion is such that forces due to the weight of the massesand theexplosions in the cylinders aretransmitted bythe anchor rods or studsdirectly to structural shapes forming parts of the base frame withoutexertingexcessive forces onto the welded seams ybetween the differentparts. This is accomplished by providing the structure of the baseframewith a plurality of transverse walls made of forgedv Steel platesprojecting into rel cesses of structural shapes such as channel ironsofthe side walls of the base. The cylinder sup port in a preferredarrangement of my invention comprises longitudinal and transversestructural shapes which are fitted into each other and are provided withlugs in the joints for fastening the cylinder heads thereto. f

, For a. better understanding of what I consider to be novel and myinvention, attention is directed to the following description and theclaims appended thereto in' connection with the accom- I panying drawingwhich forms apart of my specification. f A

In the drawing Fig. 1 represents a front view partly broken away of acombustion engine frame embodying my invention; Fig. 2 isa top viewpartly broken away of Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views alonglines 3 and 4 respectively 'of Fig. 1; Fig. 4a is a perspective view ofa detail -of Figs. 1 to 4; Fig.' 5 represents a sectional front viewpartly broken away of a modified form of mrinvention; and Fig. 6is asectional side view of Fig. 5,*which latter is a section along lines 5-5of Fig. 6.

The base or crank casing of the frame comprises sheets or plates I0, II, I2 and I3 for carrying the crank shaft bearings, side walls I4, I5, 5standard structural shapes I6, I1 in the present instance shown aschannel irons which form a means for supporting the engine, and finallyan voil pan I 8 havingside portions welded to the lower parts of thechannel irons. By channel 10 irons I mean any standard structural shapessuch as U-irons, I-irons, TT-irons, etc. which define a channel. Thebearing supporting plates or sheets I0, II, I2 and I3 have the sameshape and they maybe burned or cut out for the entire 15 length of themachine in the same pattern.

"These sheets may be used without any machining or finishing. They arewelded together with other parts of the base and to this end they arepro' vided with lateral projections I2a (Fig. 3) which 20 fit into thechannel irons I6 and I1. The projections t the inner sections of thechannel irons completely. This is an important feature of my arrangementbecause it permits the transmission of forces, due to the masses of thedif- 25 ferent elements and the explosions in thecyl, inders, directlyto the heavy channel irons I6 and I1 without seriously affecting thewelded seams between the sheets or plates I0, II, I2, I3, and thechannel irons I6 and I1. The crank o case of the machine frame iscompleted by the longitudinal walls I4, I5 welded to the channel ironsand cover plates I2 and 20. The front wall I4 is provided with openings2I and 22 permitting access tothe crank shaft and the bearings. Theseopenings may be closed by doors or plates (not shown). Each set of twosheets I0, II and I2, I3 respectively is united by means of bent'strlpsof sheet metal 23, which latter serve to carry bearing bracketsl 24 and25 respectively. o Each set is furthermore united by bottom pieces 26and 21 respectively. The latter are located within the oil pan. Thestrips 23 and the bottom pieces 26 and 21 are welded to the plates I0,II and I2, I3 respectively. 45

The upper part of the machine frame, that is, the 'cylinder support,comprises longitudinal structural shapes'or channel irons 28 and 29 andtwo transverse structural shapes or channel irons 30, 3i between eachpair of adjacent cylinders. 50 In the present instance, U-irons havebeen used for structural shapes but .other forms of structural shapesmay be used. Lugs 32 are welded into the corners of the transverse andlongitudinal structural shapes. The longitudinal chan- 55 from thearrangement illustrated in Figs. 1to 4v nel irons 28, 29, which extendalong the entire length of the machine are welded together with bottomand cover plates 33 and 34-respectively and with the transverse channelirons 30 and 3|.

'Ihe ends vof the latter are partly cut away to fit into the recessesdened by the longitudinal channel irons 28 and 29 (Fig. 4a). Tubes 35deining cooling water jackets are welded to the plates 33 and 34 of thecylinder support. Tubes 36 defining cylinder walls are concentricallyarranged within the tubes 35. The tubes'36 have upper anged portions 31resting on the upper ends of the tubes 35 with the outer surfaces cenitered by rings 35a welded to said tubes.

Each cylinder has a head 38 fastened thereto by means of studs 39 heldin threaded bores of the lugs 32.

The transmission of explosion forces takes place through the cylinderhead studs 3 9 to the lugs 32. Theselugs in accordance with my in.vention are so fitted into the channel irons 28, 29. 30 and 3l andwelded thereto that the welded seams are not seriously affected bytensional forces due to explosions in the cylinders. These lugs, aspointed out above, are preferably provided in the joints between thelongitudinal and transverse channel irons. With this arrange,- ment theexplosion forces are directly transmitted through the cylinder headbolts 39 to the longitudinal and transverse channel irons 28 to 32inclusive. The base and the cylinder support are held together by meansof anchor rods 49, projecting through holes near the joihts of thelongitudinal and transverse channel irons, and projecting through thespaces defined by the sets of plates ID, II, and I2, I3 respectively. Itwill beA noted that the transverse structural shapes or channel irons30, 3l form vertical walls in alinement with the walls I0, II and I2, I3respectively. The forces transmitted through the cylinder bolts 39 andthe lugs 32 to the transverse and longitudinal structural shapes orchan- A seams between the dilerent elements forming' the crank case.

The modification shown inv Figs. 5 andldiffe'rs in that studs are usedinstead o f anchor rods for bolting the cylinder frame to the crankcaseand in the use of single transverse sheets instead of the sets of sheetsI0, II and I2, I3 in Fig. l.

More specifically, the arrangement comprises a pan portion 4I, sideplates 42 and channel irons 43 welded together, anda transverse sheet orplate 44 between adjacent cylinders having projections lling the freesection of the channel irons 43 similar to the arrangement shown injigs. 3 and 4. A top plate 45 is welded to the side walls 42. Thecylinder frame comprises a x bottom plate 46 and a top plate 41 weldedto structural shapes shown as U-irons 48 and 49 5 corresponding to theirons 30 and. 3I of Fig. 1, and U`irons 52 and 53 correspondingtoU-irons 28 and 29 of Fig. 2. lThe cylinder support is fastened to thebase or crankcase by means of studs 50 screwed into a reinforced portion5I of the upper part of sheet 44. In all other respects the arrangementis similar to that described above'in connection with Figs. 1-4.

With my invention I have accomplished an improved construction of weldedcombustion engine frames. The frame is manufactured from commercial,standard structural shapes and plates which are welded'together andarranged so that forces due to the weight of the masses of the differentelements and explosions in the cylinders are transmitted directly to themain .structural shapes for supporting the engine with-v out affectingthe welded seams between the different parts. This feature increases thesafety and the life of the engine.

Whatv I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is: i

1. In a combustion engine a welded frame comprising a base anda cylindersupport, the base having a casing comprising side Walls made of 30plates and longitudinally extending channel irons, transverse plateshaving projections located in recesses defined by the channel irons.said plates being welded along their edges to said channel irons andside-wall plates, and 35 anchor-rods for fastening the cylinder supportto the base, the anchor-rods being fastened to the transverse plateswhereby forces from the cylinder support are transmitted to the channelirons of the base without seriously affecting the 4o welded 'seams alongthe edges of said transverse plates.

,2. In a combustion engine, a welded frame comprising a base and acylinder support bolted together, the base having an outer casing com-45 prising side walls made of plates and longltudinally extendingchannel irons, transverse plates having projections located in thechannels dened by the channel irons. the cylinder support comprising twolongitudinal channel irons and 50 two transverse channel irons between-adjacent cylinders having ends fit into the recesses of thelongitudinal-channel irons and being welded thereto, and bolts forsecuring the cylinder support to the'base arranged to compress saidtrans- 55 verse plates, 'thereby eliminating the transmission ofconsiderable tensionforces through welded seams between the differentpartsr;

JOHANNES RADLQFF. so

